Prepping the Blinds and Canvas

There are just some jobs that need to be done every year, This week's jobs were cleaning the window blinds, and cleaning and waterproofing the bimini canvas. Castine, being essentially an island, has exorbitantly high water costs. When we bought our house over 16 years ago, we inherited a marshy backyard. A clever contractor suggested we collect up the water using a series of french drains, dig a well to store the water, and use it for watering the gardens, washing the cars, etc. Brilliant! We have a usable backyard while saving on our water bills. However, living this far north we can't leave the pump in year round due to freezing. Last week we installed the well pump and washed the cars. This week we tackle the blinds and bimini canvas. We laid them out on the driveway, washed them with mild soap, and let them dry in the sun. Particular attention was given to the bimini top as we wouldn't see it again for some time. Then a coat of 303 High Tech Fabric Guard spray was applied. We've used this for years and find it works quite well - it even repels the seagull droppings! We'll let the canvas dry for 2-3 days and do another light coat of the 303. The blinds will be reinstalled on our next trip to the boat and the bimini will go back up when we remove the shrink-wrap in a few weeks. We're making progress indeed!